CEPA Study Abroad Program Blog

CEPA Study Abroad Program Blog offer students and faculty their very own "online portal" for their photos and stories of their adventures. Friends, colleagues, and family back home can easily follow along.
We invite you to take a look below - catch a glimpse of the many different experiences our faculty and students are having right now!

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Wednesday, April 6, 2016

We have 19 students, 2 community members, and 3 college faculty ready to head to Europe! This first posting is to help remind everyone what to prep for the trip. We will not review items already addressed, but go over tasks which still need to be done by everyone.

Packing:
Here are the limitations:

Checked baggage

158 cm maximum linear dimension (height + width + length)

23 kg (50 lb) maximum weight

A second bag will cost at least $100 per way + taxes

Carry on luggage limits

Maximum 23 cm by 40 cm by 55 cm

10 kg (22 lb) maximum weight

Electronic items with restricted use

More details about packing limitations from Air Canada can be found here.

Keep passports and credit cards in a safe location. Please make certain that you have left copies with your family and/or friends back home and that they have a copy of your itinerary and how to reach you if needed. For documents, if you absolutely don't need it, don't bring it!

Money:

Meals are listed on your itinerary. You will want to bring some cash for smaller cafe, but you can use credit or debit for most tourist shopping areas. You can find limits for bringing goods back here at this website.

Getting to and from the airport:
We have had a few questions about how everyone should get to the airport. Well, there are several options besides walking or hitchhiking!

You can post on this site in the discussion area to arrange a ride with another participant in the trip, or offer a ride if you have room in your vehicle.

Friday, January 22, 2016

Like most people of my generation,
Harry Potter has always been a big part of my life. I was with Harry when he
saved the Sorcerer’s stone and up until he defeated He-who-must-not-be-named.
While the books are always better, the movies still hold a special place in my
heart. So when preparing to travel to London, I knew I needed to go to the
Warner Brother Studios where the Harry Potter cast and crew gathered everyday
for 10 years to piece together Harry’s magical story for the big screen.

I wasn’t the only Harry Potter
fanatic in my travel group. 8 Potter-heads including myself prepared ourselves
for our journey to northern London. We considered the hour or so underground
ride and small entry fee to be completely worth what we were about to
experience. After our Tube ride we were then transported to the Studio, which
still functions as a working studio today by a bus completely decked out in
Harry Potter features. At this point, our group was so excited we could barely
sit in our seats.

From the moment I walked into the
Warner Brothers studio my arms were completely covered in goose bumps. This was
a dream come true for me and I couldn’t decide where to start. The tour guide led
us through the doors of the Great Hall where we saw the exact table settings
where Hogwarts students sat. We saw exact replicas of all the characters and
their most famous costumes. My excitement level was through the roof and it was
only the first room.

After leading us through the Great
Hall and giving us plenty of fun Harry Potter facts, our tour guide then set us
free to roam the piles and piles of actual Harry Potter artifacts at our own
pace. I spent hours roaming through the studio taking in the Harry Potter
atmosphere and reading tons of fun facts on how the movies were made. The
studio highlighted the behind the scenes work which I found to be inspiring. We
were able to see full size sets like Harry’s bedroom, the Knight Bus, and even
Buckbeak the Hippogriff. After looking through everything we could possibly
see, we were even able to sit down for a cold mug of butter beer.

Being at the Warner Brothers Studio
– Harry Potter Experience was a dream for me. Any one who calls themselves a
Harry Potter fan would have a magical day. A trip to London cannot be complete
without a trip to the Warner Brother studio.

A mystery for the ages. How did these stones come to be here? Were they moved
here by people? Did aliens put them there? You would think that it would be
easy to figure out why there is a group of massive stones standing alone in a
field, but the truth is, it’s one of the biggest mysteries in history.
Researches have spent years trying to explain the story behind Stonehenge, but
to this day, no one really knows for sure how or why it was built. It is one of
the few things in British culture that remains a mystery.

As I contemplated whether or not to go on this trip, I decided to look at the
itinerary. I scanned through the pages seeing some very interesting places.
Then, something caught my eye—Stonehenge. As soon as I saw that this trip would
take me to see Stonehenge I knew I must go! A few years ago I took a college
course which researched the mysteries behind the stones. Ever since that class,
I have been fascinated by Stonehenge and I knew I must go see it for myself.

On one of the final days in England, our group took our travels to Stonehenge.
As we approached the stones, my mind began to race. Walking around the stones,
I began to picture myself in the footsteps of people centuries ago. How crazy
it must have been to see! These stones are MASSIVE. No picture can do it
justice. How much work and labor must have been put in to build this amazes me.
There’s one theory that believes these stones were moved to Stonehenge from a
place more than 50 miles away! Picturing them moving these stones all that way
left me speechless. With no advanced technology, moving all of those stones
would have been an extremely strenuous task.

Stonehenge was something I had wanted to see for years. Still as I write this
blog, I stand in awe of the magnificence and mysteriousness of Stonehenge. My
heart races for the day that we finally find out the true story behind the
stones! Was it aliens? Was it people? Was this a place for celebration or
grieving and remembrance? Until then, the mystery remains.

Seeing Stonehenge was only a small part of our travels around England.
Traveling to England made me realize that my life isn’t meant to be lived in
one place. This was my first time out of the country and it’s safe to say it
won’t be my last. Traveling is like an addiction, once you start it’s almost
impossible to stop. This was the beginning of a lifetime of traveling. Now,
where to go next?